The Cult of Isbor
by Meldirieth
Summary: The Doctor must stop a mysterious cult to save the lives of many innocent people, including Sarah Jane. 11th story of "The Lonely Star" series.
1. Chapter 1

The sky had darkened in the city of Bruges when Casper Mermans saw on the street to his former neighbour Abir, whom he had not seen for two months. The boy ran to her, wanting to ask why he hadn't heard from her since she got that job, but the expression on her face was not joy but sorrow.

"Abir!" he exclaimed.

"No, Casper. You not!" was her response.

"What's wrong, Abir? Where have you been? Can't you leave the house where you work?" he wanted to know.

"Get out of here before the others find you."

The girl's words were a strange and dark enigma for Casper.

"The others? Who?"

"We have gone out to feed and take provisions," Abir said, trying to explain to her former good friend why he should walk away from her.

"Have you gone out to dinner and to the market? I think it closed an hour ago."

"You don't understand!" the girl cried while she ran to a dark alley. Casper followed her. His common sense told him that the girl was surrounded by danger and he had to walk away from her for his sake, but Abir needed help and he would try to help her in any way. "You shouldn't have followed me," said the young girl in a sad voice when Casper caught up with her. She had a very weak appearance and there was no doubt that was fighting a tough battle with herself. "I'm so hungry ..."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm sorry, Casper. I never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all you ..."

And she sank two sharp fangs into Casper's neck. The unfortunate young boy felt his life leaving him while Abir grabbed his body tightly and sucked his energy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where have you brought me this time?" asked Sarah when she came out of the TARDIS.

"The Venice of the North," said the Doctor behind her.

"Which one?" the girl wanted to know. She knew that there were several cities nicknamed by that term.

"Guess," he said smiling.

"Amsterdam?" she tried her luck after a quick look around the landscape.

"Very nearly! We are in the fifteenth century, in the city of Bruges in its entire splendour."

"To be in its entire splendour the city is a bit deserted," said the journalist after observing that hardly there were people in the streets. Although it was night it was still early for everyone was already sleeping. "What are we doing in Belgium? Do you fancy dinner mussels and fries?"

"What? Oh, no. I can cook that very well, who do you think gave the Belgians the idea?" This was one of those times that the girl didn't know if her partner was joking or serious. "But you're right, Sarah," he continued. "Here's something that's not right," he said looking at the costumes of two passers-by near them. "Excuse me, friends. Can you tell me what year it is?"

"Don't you know? Have you taken a blow to the head or something?" asked one of the men, puzzled.

"Something like that," said the Doctor with a smile. "Could you answer me, please?"

"It's the year 1803," said the other man.

"Thank you, you've been very kind," the gallifreyan said goodbye. "Damn," he said once the two men had moved away from them. "Wrong century. The city is not at its best, is in crisis. So there are not many people on the streets, most people seek a better life in other cities."

"You wanted to go to the fifteenth century for some special reason?" she asked.

"I just wanted to take you to a nice, romantic place on your own planet," he said with a light blush that Sarah didn't know if it was for shyness or for being in the wrong century.

"Don't worry. It's a beautiful and romantic city even in crisis."

The Doctor smiled and brought his face to hers for a kiss, but a cry a short distance from them abruptly interrupted the moment before their lips touched. It was the cry of pain of a young boy and the two travellers ran to meet to try to help him. Upon arrival they found the boy lying on the ground and a mysterious hooded figure that having been discovered ran away the scene.

"Hey you!" Sarah shouted.

"We'll take care of it later," said the Doctor kneeling beside the wounded boy. "He's still alive; we must quickly take him to the nearest hospital."

The boy gathered his scarce forces and took the gallifreyan's hand. "Abir... Abir Maes ... Help her ..." The boy's eyes remained fixed on the strange man who had come to his aid. At his pleading look the Doctor could only nod, promising to fulfil his last wish. The boy smiled faintly with gratitude and closed his eyes forever.

"Is he ...?" Sarah started asking.

"Yes," replied the Doctor placing the boy's hand on his chest and examining him. "Sarah, look at this," he said to the young journalist showing the neck of the victim. He had fang marks on his neck.

"Vampires?"

"That's what we'll find out. First we have to ..."

"Doctor," Sarah interrupted him, pointing with her head to the small group of onlookers who had gathered around them.

"Don't stand there like idiots!" The gallifreyan ordered. "Call the police! Quick!"


	3. Chapter 3

When Doctor Bosch, the Medical Examiner, finished the autopsy he made the Doctor and Sarah Jane enter the room.

"Well? What have you discovered?" the Time Lord asked.

"It has not been a robbery. He had all his documents and some money in his wallet. He was called Casper Mermans, was twenty-two and was completely healthy, but nevertheless he suffered a cardiac arrest that ended his life."

"A cardiac arrest?" The Doctor was surprised. "And the fang marks on his neck?"

"Probably made by a stray dog, but they are not very deep and couldn't cause any fatal wound or severe bleeding. He definitely didn't die for the bite."

"He didn't suffer a major loss of blood?" the gallifreyan insisted.

"No."

"Curious ... Vampire theory discarded ..." he said quietly.

"What did you say, sir," the Medical Examiner asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. My things," he replied. "One more thing: Casper mentioned a girl named Abir Maes. Do you know who she is?"

"Abir Maes ... Abir ... yes, I remember. Her parents died last year in a carriage accident, poor girl. Since then she has been surviving as has been able with small jobs that have arisen here or there. They say she got a job at Lady Juun."

"Lady Juun?" he asked.

"She's a rich and influential woman. She has contacts throughout Belgium; many people go to her house to ask for a job. For some of them she gets jobs in other cities. Others stay at her home as employees. In any case those who go there don't come back."

"And no one finds that suspicious?" Sarah asked.

"Some disappearance was reported. The police have already investigated the house," said Bosch. "They found some of the supposedly disappeared there, and Lady Juun gave them sufficient evidence that the others had successfully established in another city."

"And nobody gives news of their whereabouts to their loved ones?" the journalist insisted.

"My dear girl, work is scarce here. If you have the possibility to start a new life right away you take advantage of it without further. Then you'll tell everyone where you are and how you are."

Sarah increasingly distrusted the benefactor of the unemployed and, judging by his face, the Doctor too.

"We're going to see that Lady Juun, we have to notify Abir the death of Casper. Where can we find her?" he asked.

"On the outskirts, in the former home of the Peeters."

"The Peeters?"

"A couple of traders," Bosch explained. "They went to Antwerp, like so many others. This is the address," he said, writing on a piece of paper that handed over to the stranger."

"I see. Well, thanks for the information. Good night," said the Doctor putting a hand on Sarah's shoulder.

"Before you go, take this." The Medical Examiner gave the Doctor a knife.

"I don't carry weapons of any kind. Why do you give me this?"

"It is dangerous to walk around the city at night, especially foreigners. You wear a strange costume; criminals of the city shall notice you. This is for protection."

"Thank you, but I won't use it." The Doctor kept the knife in his jacket pocket and he and Sarah Jane left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"According to Doctor Bosch, this is the place," said the Doctor once they reached the door of a large house on the outskirts. "And we have arrived without incident, he worried too much."

"He'd just do an autopsy on a boy, I don't think he would want to have more work at hand," Sarah said.

"Yes, you're right."

The gallifreyan knocked. A stern-looking tall man opened them.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Good night. Sorry for the hour, but we want to see Lady Juun."

"Do you have an appointment with her?"

"Thaddeus, darling, let them pass. I'm always available for those who need my help," said a female voice from behind.

"Are you Lady Juun?" the Doctor asked. She nodded. Both the Time Lord and Sarah were surprised by the appearance of the woman. They had imagined a woman of middle age, and the person in front of them - beautiful, with long and wavy brown hair in a bun - didn't look much older than Sarah Jane. "Oh, excuse my manners. I am the Doctor and she is Sarah Jane Smith ... I expected someone older, I didn't think you were so young."

The lady laughed, showing perfectly normal teeth, without sharp fangs. "Don't worry," she said. "It happens often, but don't bear a deceit. I'm older than I look." She winked at the time traveller.

"So am I," said the Doctor with a smile. Sarah, however, disliked the sassy flirting of the attractive woman with her man.

"What can I do for you? You don't seem the type of people who need help to find a way to make a living."

"Actually we are tourists," said the gallifreyan.

"I had no idea my house was included in the guidebook."

"It's a really beautiful house, but no, it isn't in the guidebook."

"So what brought you here?"

"We met on the street a boy who asked us to give a message from him to one of your employees. Abir Maes."

"And why the boy didn't come in person to see Abir?" asked Lady Juun.

"Because he was busy with a small matter and could not put it aside," he said with a smile and a surprisingly carefree voice. He was a very good actor. Sarah was glad to not be the one to tell that lie. She was unable to hide the bitterness of the strange death of Casper.

"Abir is in her bedroom. She said she wasn't feeling well, but surely hear from her friend will make her feel better. Follow me."

Lady Juun started down the corridor followed by the travellers. As they passed a closed door the Doctor suddenly stopped when he heard something like a sob of a woman.

"Is something wrong?" the lady asked.

"What's behind that door?" the Time Lord wanted to know.

"Nothing important, my dear. It's just the pantry," the woman said, resuming her way.

"I know why you stopped, Doctor," Sarah whispered. "I have also heard it."

Whatever it was they would find out later. Now they had to talk to Abir. The travellers followed Lady Juun to the last door of the corridor.

"Abir, my dear, you have visitors." Lady Juun opened the bedroom door.

Young Abir would be just twenty years. She was a pretty girl with long reddish blonde hair and big blue eyes that surely they once shone with the joy of living day to day, but they were now empty and sad, as if her life had no meaning. She had in her small hands a delicate glass vase that fell when she saw appear the two foreigners behind her mistress.

"Sorry, I'm a little clumsy" said the girl, crouching to pick up the pieces of glass and avoiding the gaze of the Doctor and Sarah.

"Let me help you," said the journalist also picking up the pieces of the vase.

"It is not necessary, I can manage." The girl was visibly nervous.

"Quiet, accidents happen ... ouch!" Sarah had just cut on her finger with one of the pieces of glass. "You see?"

"Sorry!" Abir apologized as if she had been guilty of Sarah's wound.

"Are you okay, Sarah?" the Doctor asked, carefully examining the journalist's finger. It was a small cut, but deep enough to spring up blood.

"Yes, it is nothing, calm. I just need to clean the wound well."

"Thaddeus!" Lady Juun called. "Take Miss Smith to the bathroom."

Sarah walked away following the stern man and at the request of the Doctor Lady Juun moved away so that he and her young employee spoke quiet, which was a bit difficult considering the state of the girl. She kept busy with the broken vase without looking at the man in front.

"May I suggest a broom for this?" the Doctor asked to break the ice with the girl. "Look at me, Abir. You know who I am, right? You saw me in the alley."

She finally looked up at him. "Casper ..." was all she could say.

"He's dead," the Time Lord said. There was no gentle way to communicate this news.

"I never wanted to kill him ... nor anyone ..."

"I know, and Casper too. His last thought was for you. He asked me to help you. Do you need to get you out of here?"

"Help? It's too late for me. I'm a monster, all of us in this house," she said sadly. "But you can help them."

"To whom?"

"Those who are locked up in the pantry."

"Are there people there? I knew it. Muffins don't cry." That comment made the girl smile slightly. "Don't worry, I will help them, and you too. You care about others, I don't think you're a monster," he said honestly. She looked into his eyes and thanked his words with a smile.

* * *

Thaddeus had taken Sarah downstairs. They were crossing a large basement and the young journalist thought he was taking her to the toilet of employees.

"I must be on a very low scale for not letting me use the upstairs bathroom," she muttered to herself.

The house was large, beautifully decorated, and the basement was no exception. Sarah looked the marble sculptures, the delicate porcelain figures and the medieval armours in her way and stopped to admire a beautiful bonsai located in what seemed a small altar.

"How beautiful!" she exclaimed. "But don't you think it needs to be in a lit room?" she asked. Trees need sunlight for photosynthesis and all the light there was artificial.

"Don't stop there!" Thaddeus shouted frightening the girl so that she almost made the bonsai fall to the floor.

"Sorry, sorry," she said placing the little tree back on the altar and going to where the man was.

"He has everything he needs here," he replied dryly her question.

"He?" Sarah was surprised. The man had spoken of the bonsai as if it were a person.

What Sarah had been missed - or she didn't give much importance - was that she had spotted the bonsai with her bloody finger. What sure she didn't see was the small tree absorbing the blood of its leaves.

On the top floor for no apparent reason, Lady Juun smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

After having cleaned the wound Sarah came back with the Doctor. The Time Lord left Abir's room and turned his attention to his partner, who had her hand on her forehead and looked ready to faint.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" he asked worried.

"Don't worry," she soothed him with a smile. "I'm only a little dizzy."

"I bet you have not dined yet. I'll ask my cooks to prepare something," the woman said.

"No need, we're going to rest and we will return tomorrow to enjoy your hospitality," said the Doctor taking Sarah's arm and walking towards the exit, but Thaddeus stood before the door blockading the way.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go, Doctor," said Lady Juun. "Sarah's services are required here."

"What? Rubbish! She didn't come here looking for work; she already has one full-time with me."

"What happens? Why they don't let us go?" Sarah asked, increasingly stunned.

"Isbor has accepted your gift of blood. Now you'll submit to his will and you'll be part of his followers, as everyone in this house," said Lady Juun.

"What ...?

"Isbor?" That name was not unknown to the Time Lord, although he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. "No, nothing like that, she won't follow anybody here. Get out!" he ordered Thaddeus unsuccessfully.

In a gesture of Lady Juun all house employees left their tasks, apprehended Sarah and the Doctor without they could help it and took them to the basement where they were confined in a cell guarded by Thaddeus.

"No! Let them go, Lady Junn! Let them go!" Abir cried, pleading in vain.

"Young lady, Isbor is very upset with you. You will remain in your room until we decide what to do with you." Lady Junn grabbed the girl's arm, took her to her room and locked the door.

Inside the cold cell Sarah was unable to stand, and she didn't fell to the floor because the Doctor held her in his arms and carefully he sat her down leaning her back against the wall.

"Are you alright, Sarah? What's wrong?" the gallifreyan asked increasingly worried about the state of his partner. She was getting worse at every moment.

"I'm hungry ..." she said in a tiny voice.

"I think I have some food in the jacket ... yes, I have something here," he said taking out his left pocket a candy bar. He opened it and gave it to the girl.

"Ugh, it tastes like ashes," she said after giving a bite of the sweet.

"Is it spoiled?" The Doctor bit the candy to prove it. "It's good," he said without understanding why it had tasted bad to Sarah.

"It's not the food, it's her. Now she needs another type of food," the lady of the house said, smiling mischievously.

"What kind of food?" the Doctor asked.

"Olive!" the lady called. "Teach the girl how to eat from now on."

The maid absented a few minutes and came back with a handcuffed woman who was crying scared. Doctor's eyes opened wide. Olive opened her mouth and the two prisoners watched how her fangs increased their length and were sunk in the bare neck of the poor victim, who was screaming in pain without anyone come to her aid. Gradually the cries and tears were ceasing while giving the impression that the skin of the young girl wilted. The maid licked her mouth and dropped the girl, now lifeless, to the floor.

"Thank you, Olive. You may go, and don't forget to clean it," said Lady Juun pointing to the unfortunate girl.

"You, despicable creatures," said the Doctor angry, but now he knew what had happened to Casper.

"Well, my dear, you know what to do. Why do you think I've locked the Doctor with you?"

"No ... never ..." Sarah said horrified.

"You'll see what you do, but if you don't eat soon you will die," Lady Juun warned her. "Oh, and one more thing: If you don't submit yourself to Isbor, you'll also die within three days. We cannot afford to have any disloyal."

"I won't ... I won't ..."

"It's your decision," the lady said with her back to the cell and moving away.

"Don't worry, Sarah. I won't allow you become one of them," said the Doctor undressing himself from the waist up.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked.

"It's obvious. I'm going to feed you and I don't want the shirt stained with blood," he answered.

The gallifreyan moved aside his clothes and hugged Sarah Jane so she could easily bite him, but she resisted.

"No ... I will not," she said.

"Come on, Sarah. If you don't eat you will die."

"I'd rather die than hurt you."

"Don't worry about me," the Doctor said with a sweet smile. "Time Lords don't die so easily. Also, I have more energy than you could need."

"I will not, Doctor ... I will not," the journalist insisted.

"Sarah, please," he pleaded.

"You can't make me."

He nodded, resigned.

"You're right. I cannot force you. Okay, I won't ask you more."

He held her harder and kissed her lips. The young girl responded to his kiss with the little energy she had, knowing that this was their farewell, so she gave herself up completely, oblivious to everything else. Slowly the Doctor tilted his face and moved his mouth away from hers, but Sarah continued her tour of kisses down his cheek, moving gently toward his neck, as she had done many times before. But this time the survival instinct came over her. Her fangs turned long and sharp and were sunk into the flesh of her partner, producing him an intense and excruciating pain, but the Time Lord didn't cry out, nor tried to pull away, but smiled. Sarah was feeding. She would survive.


	6. Chapter 6

The hunger was sated and the energy returned to flow through her small body. Only then Sarah was aware of what she was doing: to absorb the life of her beloved.

"Doctor!" She exclaimed, horrified by her own act.

"Sarah ... you look better, my dear," he said weakly, but smiling.

The girl took a handkerchief from her trousers pocket and put it on the wound in his neck, stopping the bleeding.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want," the journalist apologized.

"Quiet. Are you better?"

"I am. How are you?" she asked, but whatever he said nothing would release her of the guilt she felt.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he answered, gently caressing her cheek.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Too well, in fact."

Neither Sarah nor the Doctor had realized of the presence of Lady Juun. The woman had stealthily come in the cell and had grabbed the weakened Doctor from behind, lifting him from the floor without he could resist the surprisingly strong woman.

"Release him!" Sarah shouted, wanting to get up to separate the lady of the Time Lord, but with a quick movement of her hand the whole body of the young girl was paralyzed.

"You have fully recovered and yet he is still alive. It should not be like that," said Lady Juun.

"Sometimes miracles happen," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Don't try to fool me, Doctor. Thaddeus heard you say you're a Time Lord, and Isbor is not unaware of that word." The woman's hand ran from one side to another the gallifreyan's bare chest. "Two hearts, the ability to regenerate body and an amount of energy higher than in an ordinary human."

"Don't think about me as if I were a sandwich," the Time Lord said, offended.

"A sandwich? Oh, no, nothing like that. You are a delicacy fit for kings, and I'm the queen of this house." Lady Juun bit voraciously the neck of the Doctor, who this time didn't hide the pain that it caused him and cried out before the helpless eyes of Sarah Jane.

"Enough! Stop it! You'll kill him!" the girl cried.

When the woman was satiated she released the time traveller, who fell to the floor exhausted. Sarah was freed from her paralysis and ran to help her partner, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"See? He is alive. He has enough energy to feed both of us. May he rest today, I'll be back tomorrow." She left the cell and went back upstairs.

"Sarah ..." he said in a whisper. He had no strength to speak louder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I am," he answered, getting up. "Everything is spinning around, right?"

"No," she said.

"Then I'm dizzy." He lay down on the floor again. The young journalist caressed his brown curls gently. "Sarah ... I felt nothing when she touched me ..."

"Oh, well," she said.

"No, I don't mean that ... You'll see, when you touch me I can feel the warmth of your skin ... if you're happy, nervous, scared ... In short, I can feel the life in you. I didn't feel anything like that in her ..."

"What you're insinuating is something creepy."

"Well, now I cannot be a hundred percent sure ... but what I know is that we have to get the prisoners of the pantry out of here." He tried to get up again, but Sarah stopped him.

"Now you should rest," she said.

"No time to lose ... I must save them ... I must save you."

"Look at yourself, you can hardly speak. Right now you are not in condition to help anyone. Get some rest, recover strength." The girl's words were now an order.

"All right ... fifteen minutes, no more."

"OK." She smiled. "Rest quiet, I won't separate myself from you."

He smiled back and closed his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

"Isbor must be stopped ... The Cult of Isbor must be stopped ..."

Sarah listened carefully to the words that the Doctor spoke in dreams. Like every time he slept, successful memories came back to his mind to clarify the strange mysteries they encountered in their travels. So the girl had exceeded the limit of fifteen minutes of sleep that her partner had imposed himself.

"Ah!" With a start the Time Lord opened his eyes.

"Quiet, nothing happens. It has been a nightmare." The journalist took the man's hand and caressed his cheek. Then she turned her head to Thaddeus, who was watching the scene with his typical stern expression. "He suffers from night terrors. I've said to him many times that needs treatment, but he doesn't listen."

Thaddeus snorted and turned his back on the couple, but he didn't move from the place, fulfilling his task of guardian, tenacious. Sarah wondered if the man ever slept.

"Sarah," the Time Lord called her. The girl returned her attention on him. "I don't suffer from night terrors," he said.

"I know. How do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel great," he answered sitting up. Sarah could see that he was really well. He seemed to have regained his energy, his neck wounds had healed and he spoke with the fluency that characterized him. "How long was I asleep?"

"Three hours."

"Three hours? I told only fifteen minutes," he reproached her.

"With just fifteen minutes you were still exhausted. Perhaps in your youth such a short time would be enough for you, but you're getting old," the girl defended herself.

"Okay, I won't argue. We have little time and I won't waste it. After all, now I can remember something important." The Doctor picked up his shirt and put it on, leaving the rest of his clothes piled on the floor. He was now the 'food' of Sarah and wanted to be readily accessible for her. "I remember who Isbor is."

The journalist prepared to put all her interest in the story she was about to hear, but a small doubt assailed her.

"Doctor, don't you care that Thaddeus is hearing everything?" she asked quietly.

"Not really. You know, I don't think Thaddeus and the others know what actually they have in this house, well, maybe Lady Juun does. She was not surprised when she noticed I'm not from Earth," he answered looking where the guardian was, expecting to see a sign that he had heard what he had said. By not get what he expected, the gallifreyan shrugged and proceeded to tell Sarah what he knew. "Long ago, on the planet Runapur there was a tree of red wood and deep green leaves which measured at least three hundred eighty seven feet high ..."

"It was huge!" Sarah exclaimed, astonished. On Earth there were no so high trees.

The Doctor smiled and continued his story. "For its size the runapurians called this tree Isbor, which in their language means divine. They thought that a tree of such height was not of that world, so it had to be a god, so a group of fanatics formed the called Cult of Isbor, mostly devoted to worship him. They soon discovered that Isbor could talk, giving more credence to the theory of the god. Pilgrimages to the tree-god were common and people even were encouraged to ask him for wishes, rather, miracles -healings of terminally ill patients - that Isbor promised to fulfill in exchange for one thing: food. But what do trees eat besides the nutrients from the soil itself? The answer was as simple as chilling: human vital energy. And the runapurians, stupid naive, did not hesitate to offer their lives just to know that those ill relatives would heal and live happily ever after. The Cult members even encouraged these sacrifices."

"They thought they were sacrificed for their loved ones, that's laudable," Sarah interrupted.

"That's stupid. The patients not only didn't heal, but rather that caused that more people were to sacrifice too in case the life of only one wasn't enough to satisfy the hunger of the great plant-god," the Time Lord said, altered.

"Okay, okay. Go on, please," Sarah said softly to calm her partner.

"Those were prosperous times for Isbor, but happiness is never eternal. One day, the race of the Conquerors landed on Runapur to subdue the planet and, considering Isbor as a threat, they killed the members of the Cult and set fire to the tree so that all the people contemplated how the flames devoured their beloved god. That was a mistake; they had to have disintegrated it. The fire slowly ended with the huge tree, but Isbor was not the tree, much less a god."

"What was him?" Sarah asked.

"A parasite. A microscopic sponger hidden in a millenary organic case. He lived in the tree and he sucked its life slowly, and when there was nothing left of the poor plant he fed on humans. When the Conquerors burned the big and strong tree he had enough time to find a new temporary guest, probably a human, and run away before it was completely destroyed." He smiled slightly. "This story is well known in Gallifrey, I used to tell it to my granddaughter, how could I forget it?"

"Things of age, I told you," Sarah said, laughing, but her face suddenly became serious. "Does he live only in trees?"

"Not necessarily, he just needs any living organism. He feeds on life," he answered. "Why do you ask? Is something wrong?"

Sarah ran to the door and peered out much as she could.

"It's not visible from here."

"What's wrong?" the Time Lord insisted.

"There," Sarah pointed at the direction in which the altar stood. "There's a bonsai that I almost made it fall down, but I avoided it taking it with my hands ... Gift of blood, my finger was bleeding ... That is! That was my gift of blood!" The girl finally understood why she was involved in the new Cult of Isbor.

"Now he demands blood to his followers, in the past he had enough with the willingness to serve. Over time he is becoming a demanding. Anyway, Sarah, this is the reason why plants are taken by the pot."

"What? Hey, I don't know how it is on Gallifrey or in the rest of the universe, but here on Earth, plants don't have energy- sucking parasites ... except that of there."

"That doesn't matter now," the Doctor said. "Now that we know what we face we must stop it before it's too late. Have you heard the story, Thaddeus? Isbor is not a god; it's just a life sucking sponger."

"Why should I believe you?" Thaddeus asked. "Under the protection of Isbor and Lady Juun we have the life that has been denied to us just because we live in the wrong city."

"Thaddeus, listen to me!"

But the man had turned his back and showed no signs of wanting to listen to the Time Lord.

"Desperate people. Easy prey for sects and false gods," Sarah said.

"They refuse to get the help they certainly need for fear to face the harsh reality that awaits them outside these walls." The Doctor agreed with the girl's words.

"You say that Isbor fed on the people of the planet what's-its-name," they heard Thaddeus said, "but I've been here three years and he has not fed on anyone."

"Maybe Isbor not, but you did," Sarah rebuked him.

"What did you say?" the Doctor asked, realizing that the journalist had touched an important point.

"I said maybe Isbor has not killed anyone, but they have done so," Sara said, repeating her words.

"That is. That's why I didn't feel life in Lady Juun. Oh, Sarah, if my suspicions are true although Isbor has changed his manner of proceeding he's still a vile creature."

"Explain."

"He sucks the life of his followers, but not entirely. The followers feed to regain strength and then Isbor takes their energy again, and so on. Your adored god is killing you!" He raised his voice to be heard without problems by Thaddeus, who turned a deaf ear.

"They are alive because they steal life to others. Definitely this is monstrous." Sarah said with a shudder.

A blond man with dark eyes went to the basement and whispered a few words to Thaddeus that neither the Doctor nor Sarah Jane could hear. The guard opened the cell door and grabbed Sarah's arm.

"Come with me," Thaddeus said.

"Wait, where are you taking her?" the Time Lord said with a hand grabbing the man's shoulder to stop him, but his blond colleague punched him in the stomach and pushed him into the cell.

"Doctor!" Sarah shouted while she was dragged against her will towards the bonsai.

"THADDEUS! COME BACK HERE! THADDEUS!" the gallifreyan shouted with his hands still on his aching stomach.


	8. Chapter 8

The girl remained standing, staring at the bonsai in front of her. It was curious how her perception of the little tree had changed. What once she looked like something beautiful was now a horrible monstrous creature, a deadly silent murderer. Sarah was not there alone. All the sinister inhabitants of the mansion were with her, including Lady Juun and the young Abir, seized by Olive. Everyone was there except the blond man who had remained guarding the Doctor in the cell. She tried to maintain an attitude at the same time proud and relaxed, but the reality was that she wanted to run away, although Thaddeus still kept her grabbed so she didn't try to flee. Olive moved leading Abir next to the bonsai and then she took her position with another man that Sarah had only seen at the time of their capture. Lady Juun spread her arms and the young journalist knew immediately that something bad would happen. She looked at Abir, who was strangely quiet, as if she really wanted to be there at that time. The time traveller girl heard Thaddeus whispering in her ear.

"Look closely, as this could happen to you."

Sarah held her breath when Lady Juun started talking.

"Abir, you're here accused of betraying Isbor. You alerted your friend who sent two strangers to stop us."

"No!" Sarah shouted. "Abir has nothing to do with it! We only came to tell her that her friend had died, she has not betrayed anyone!"

"Silence!" Juun commanded. "Abir, if Isbor thinks you're guilty of betrayal you know the punishment." Abir didn't say a word, just smiled. Lady Juun continued with the trial. "Isbor, the accused awaits your verdict."

A deep voice was heard from the bonsai.

"Guilty."

"You have heard the voice of Isbor," Lady Juun said solemnly.

"The voice of Isbor, the voice of Isbor," the others supporters chanted.

"Have you anything to say before receiving your punishment, Abir?" the lady asked.

The girl looked at Sarah and smiled.

"Don't worry about me. At last I'll be free."

The bonsai began to glow with a yellowish light while Abir screamed. Sarah tried in vain to escape from Thaddeus to help the girl.

"Stop! Leave it! She's innocent!" the journalist cried.

"Isbor, Isbor, Isbor Isbor," the followers sang.

In the cell, the Doctor was increasingly worried about his partner. His new guard never said a word at all, even though he asked him where she had been taken and what they were going to do with her. His concern turned to terror when he began to hear the screams.

"What are you doing?" he asked with no response. "SARAH!"

Abir's face was dry, withered, and she fell to the floor lifeless. Lady Juun smirked and addressed Sarah.

"This is what awaits those who betray us."

"Abir was right. You're monsters," Sarah said.

"Isbor, Isbor, Isbor Isbor." The singing continued while the followers revered the bonsai, still bright, with Abir's body still on the floor. Sarah closed her eyes. That scene was too gruesome for her. She opened them when she felt Thaddeus took her back to the cell.

"Sarah!" the Doctor exclaimed. "What has happened? Are you all right?" The girl hugged the Time Lord and began to cry. "You despicable creatures, what have you done to her?" the gallifreyan asked with wrathful voice.

"She is unharmed," Thaddeus answered dryly.

"It's Abir, Doctor. They killed her ... because we have come here," Sarah managed to say although she couldn't help but mourn for the girl.

The Doctor hugged the journalist tightly to comfort her.

"Sorry, Casper," he whispered. "I couldn't save Abir, but I promise I'll end with Isbor once and for all."


	9. Chapter 9

The Time Lord was sitting with his eyes closed, concentrated, trying to collect all the memories that his mind kept about Isbor. Beside him, Sarah tried unsuccessfully to get some rest. Every time she managed to sleep she only remembered the last moments of Abir's life. The journalist shuddered and whined in her sleep and when she saw the image of the young girl lifeless on the floor she opened her eyes to find the Doctor, looking at her worried. She smiled at him.

"I think I won't be able to sleep until we get out of here," said the girl. The gallifreyan smiled slightly and gently caressed her pretty face. "And what about you? Have you remembered anything that can be of help?" she asked.

"Well, I've come to the conclusion that I hate the non-intervention policy of my people," he replied.

"That's nothing new."

"Time Lords knew the existence of Isbor for a long time, even they knew he was not destroyed and still they didn't give them the desire to seek to stop him. Even myself when I ran away from Gallifrey ... I should have sought him to hunt," the Doctor's voice denoted some bitterness.

"Don't mortify yourself over this. You had no way of knowing where he was hiding. I have seen Isbor and believe me, he hasn't a neon sign saying 'Attention, parasite murderer here'," she reassured him. The gallifreyan smiled and kissed her on the forehead. The journalist looked at the watch on her wrist. "Well, it's going to dawn a new day."

"And we stuck here. The sunrise in the city is beautiful," the Doctor said.

"Promise me that we'll escape from here and see the sunrise before ..." Sarah couldn't finish her sentence, but her partner knew exactly what she meant.

"Sarah, you're not going to die," he said with a very serious voice that brooked no argument by the girl.

"I know," she said, snuggling against his body.

Their quiet moment did not last long. Lady Juun came briskly into the cell.

"Breakfast time," she said, paralyzing both Sarah and the Doctor and grabbing the latter one, discovering his neck to steal his energy. "Haven't you fed yet?" the lady asked to note that the Time Lord had no sign of bites.

"I didn't need it," Sarah answered.

"But you need," the Doctor said. "This proves that my theory that Isbor sucks your own energy is true."

"Silence," the woman commanded, biting his neck painfully.

"Leave him alone!" Sarah shouted, cursing her powerless.

But once again Lady Juun only released him when she was sated.

"Juun ... please, tell me how you found Isbor ..." the Doctor said lying on the floor with exhausted voice. The lady looked at him suspiciously. "Oh, please ... look at me ... I certainly can't do anything against you ... besides I don't even know how to save Sarah. At least satisfy my curiosity."

"Okay," she acceded. "It was eighty years ago, when I was twenty-five. My name was then Juun Janssen and was thief in Ghent, with my boyfriend Victor. One night we went to rob the house of a rich family in the city, taking advantage of all of them slept," Juun smiled. "Well, not all of them. The family cat was awake and it attacked me. A bloody cat! I was wounded with deep scratches on my arms and hands. Trying to get rid of the animal I accidentally hit a small bonsai they had in the living room. Then I heard a voice inside my head that said, _'You've been accepted'_. The scandal caused by the cat woke the family, so Victor and I had to run, so I grabbed the bonsai and escaped through the window through which we had entered. Once safe, Victor reproached me that we were discovered and I had only taken that 'ridiculous tree'. I was very weak without knowing why. I needed to eat, it was clear, but I didn't want food the least bit. I wanted another thing ... I grabbed Victor and sank my oddly sharp teeth into his neck. I felt myself getting stronger, unlike him, who cried pathetically, pleading for his miserable life. I ended up with him. My alliance with Victor was over and I forged a new one with Isbor. From that day Juun Janssen ceased to exist."

"A terrible story," Sarah said, kneeling beside the Doctor. "You had no mercy for your supposed boyfriend."

"Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for a greater good. The life Isbor gave me was much better than the one Victor gave me."

"But Juun, Don't you see? Isbor has been taking your life since then. You're right about one thing. Juun Janssen no longer exists, and Lady Juun is just an undead," the Doctor said.

"Silence, slag. You're not in position to badmouth Isbor. You're just food for us."

That said, the lady turned and walked away.

"Oh, Sarah. She did it," the Doctor said with distressed voice.

"What? What she did?" Sarah asked, worried.

"She has not been careful with my shirt ... She has blood stained it."

"Oh, Doctor. You have five more like that in your wardrobe!"

"But this was my favourite one."

"Blood stains are removed with hydrogen peroxide."

"True, it still can be saved. In any case, we already know that Isbor's followers only see what Isbor wants them to see: he is wonderful and protects them."

"Abir didn't think so," Sarah said.

"Because Abir had little time in the house and had met Casper, a reminder of her former life. There is no doubt that that definitely removed the blindfold that Isbor tried to put on her."

"Well, then we just have to get out of here and find the family and friends of all who are here. Piece of cake," she said sarcastically.

"That would only work with those that take less time here and still retain some of their own life. With the oldest ones we can do nothing."

Olive went to the basement and put in the cell a tray with a turkey breast sandwich with lettuce and fresh tomato, accompanied by a pitcher of water and a glass.

"Nothing that needs cutlery, just in case," the time traveller said to himself, looking at the food.

When the maid went away the Doctor sat up and began to eat the sandwich.

"This is delicious. Congratulations to the cook. It has much merit considering that everything tastes like ashes to you," the gallifreyan said to Thaddeus.

"You shouldn't eat so cheerfully," Sarah said, looking at the food suspiciously.

"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything since we landed and I'm also losing a lot of energy. Lady Juun is a glutton." Sarah's eyes were fixed on his, this time worried. He smiled at her. "Don't worry. It's not poisoned or drugged. I'm food for you, remember? They'll keep me healthy and well fed; they won't allow I become weak."

"They treat you like you're cattle," she said.

"It won't be for long."

The blond man came and whispered something to Thaddeus, who went upstairs, leaving his colleague to the care of the prisoners.


	10. Chapter 10

Shortly after Thaddeus left the basement the Doctor and Sarah Jane began to hear screams coming from upstairs. They knew exactly what was happening: it was breakfast time for the employees. Lady Juun had eight people at her service -they were nine with Abir- which meant that eight prisoners of the pantry were being killed by the cruel cult. The Doctor managed to stay cool and impassive before the eyes of blonde guardian though what he wanted was to go to save the victims. Sarah, meanwhile, had pale skin and tears in her eyes. Fortunately or unfortunately, the screams lasted a short.

"How long will this last?" Sarah asked sadly.

"Everything will end in the next two days," the gallifreyan answered.

Two days. Sarah wouldn't have more time and the Doctor was not going to allow them to kill more people.

"Hey, what's your name?" the time traveller asked the blond man. He didn't answer.

"Are you mute? No, because you were talking to Thaddeus. I understand, Lady Juun doesn't pay you to entertain the food. I think she should add another clause more in your contract. All right; I'll call you Maurice."

The man still said nothing, so the Time Lord continued.

"Listen to me, Maurice, why do you have to kill people to feed you? You have shown that you cook very well, you just have to give it a chance to the taste of ashes." He saw the distaste in the face of his silent guardian. "Okay, I'm saying this without having tasted human energy, I don't know its taste," he said with a smile of mock apology.

"It's delicious."

The Time Lord's face became serious immediately. Those words were uttered by Sarah.

"Sorry, I scared you, right?" the girl asked with a worried smile.

"No, no, quiet. Are you hungry? You know I'm willing to feed you as many times as you need."

She shook her head, still ashamed of what she had just said.

"You think I'm a monster?" she asked.

"How did you feel when you heard the screams?"

"What?"

"Answer me."

"What am I going to feel? They were people who were being killed painfully without mercy!" she said with tears in her eyes.

"You still feel pity and compassion. You're not a monster at all," he said, reassuring her.

She hugged him.

* * *

"Come in, welcome to my house," Lady Juun said. "You are Rur, aren't you?"

"Yes, madam," the man answered.

Michael Rur was a man of about thirty, with brown hair and dark blue eyes that had gone to the house of Lady Juun with the same purpose for which everyone went there. He needed work. He followed Juun and Thaddeus to a room where he sat on a chair that the woman indicated.

"You've come in good time to apply for a job at my house, mister Rur. Precisely we have a vacancy for a cleaner and, although there's another girl candidate, it seems that she does not really want this job so much."

"I want the job. Cleaner, gardener or whatever, I don't care, and I can start immediately if you wish, madam," Michael said.

"I love your enthusiasm," Juun said with a smile. "The job is yours as long as you accept a single condition."

"What is?"

"You won't leave this house, except when I tell you and only for what I tell you," she answered.

"What? No, I refuse. I have a home and a family. My wife is pregnant and I refuse to leave her alone, even for a job." Michael replied flatly.

"Oh, what a shame. Well, then I have another place for you." While Juun was talking Thaddeus approached the man and gave him a blow on the head, knocking him out instantly. "The pantry."


	11. Chapter 11

Lady Juun and Thaddeus came back to the basement, to the cell.

"Ah, Juun. Excellent. Maurice wants to talk to you about his employment contract," the Doctor said, smiling.

"Who's Maurice? Never mind. Young lady, come with me," she said, opening the door and taking Sarah's arm.

"No, I won't go with you. I refuse to see again how you and your tree kill people," Sarah said, trying to break free from Juun.

"Kill? No, my dear, we won't kill anyone. Isbor wants you to know him, nothing more."

"But I don't want to know him," Sarah flatly refused.

"Go with her, Sarah," the Doctor said. The girl looked at him surprised. "Our host wants to meet you, don't snub him."

"But ..." she began.

_"Sarah, let me come into your mind. Let me see what you see,"_ she heard the Doctor told her telepathically.

The girl agreed and went with Juun and Thaddeus to the bonsai. In her presence, the little tree began to emit a pale light and Sarah heard his deep voice in her mind.

_"Come here, girl. Don't be afraid,"_ he said. Sarah obeyed the first part. As for the second, well, that she found it more difficult. _"I'm going to show you what I actually do to people who worship me."_

And in Sarah's mind images began to be formed. A large red wood tree, an unknown planet - Runapur, the journalist supposed - and happy people with peaceful expression on their faces, holding hands and singing beautiful chants of gratitude to their benefactor. Then the unknown planet became Earth, Juun's house, where residents also felt protected and happy. Everything Isbor showed her were images of peace, safety and happiness. There was no pain, there was no concern ... there was no death.

"Do you see, my dear? Isbor is not evil at all. He loves and protects his followers like a father loves and protects his children," Lady Juun said gently.

"This is a lie," Sarah said with conviction. "I saw you kill innocent people!"

"Everyone needs food. Don't humans eat innocent animals?"

"You can't compare!" Sarah opposed her arguments.

"It's exactly the same."

Juun started walking towards the cell, and Thaddeus took Sarah, grabbing her arm tightly. The lady opened the door of the cell, where the Doctor was concentrated on the images that Isbor had shown the girl. Realizing their return, he returned his attention on them.

"How are you so convinced that Isbor is a ruthless murderer?" she asked the journalist.

"Because the Doctor told me the true story of your false god."

"Who? He? A Time Lord? Isbor has told me about them. Dear, your precious friend belongs to a race that spends time admiring how wonderful and wise they are, regardless of the least the well-being of the other races they consider inferior. Isbor requires a small sacrifice, but instead he offers peace and happiness. Who makes the best for the helpless?"

"Juun please, come into reason. If you really care about the people who live with you, stop Isbor. For you it's too late, I'm so sorry, but here there are still people who can be saved," the Doctor said, trying to find some small trace of humanity in her.

"Silence! I've already said that your word is worthless to me," she exclaimed, turning to him showing her sharp fangs.

"Don't touch him!" Sarah shouted, extending her right arm towards the lady who was knocked down by a strong jolt of energy before the astonished gaze of the Doctor and the two guards.

"Stupid! How dare you hit Lady Juun?" Thaddeus said furious. Both Maurice and Thaddeus came in the cell to punish the daring action of Sarah, but Juun stopped them.

"Leave her. She just was defending her food," she said smirking, getting up from the floor rejecting the hand that the Doctor offered to help her.

"He's not my food," said the journalist.

"Of course he is. It is only a matter of time before you see him this way." The lady walked to the door without taking her eyes off Sarah Jane. "You are powerful. None of my employees can do what you have done, and I know why. I'm no stranger to human feelings. They have no one to protect." This time the woman looked at the gallifreyan.

Juun and Maurice left the basement, leaving the prisoners with Thaddeus again. The man took one last angry look at Sarah before giving them back.

"I think Thaddeus hates me," she said.

"Sarah, what you've done has been impressive," said the Doctor, admired by the strength shown by his partner.

"You think so? I'm still shaking."

"I do. And you know what? We are going to take advantage of this new ability of you."


	12. Chapter 12

Sarah focused her attention on the Doctor's food tray and extended her arm toward it, still not quite sure what she expected to do. To her frustration, nothing happened.

"Come on, Sarah. Concentrate," the Doctor said.

"I'm concentrate, but exactly what you want me to do?" the girl asked.

"Anything. Try to lift the napkin. It's small."

Then the journalist was concentrated on the napkin and made a slight gesture upward with her arm. Still nothing happened.

"You can do it, my dear. Cheer up," the Doctor said quietly to not break the concentration of the girl.

Again she moved her arm to the napkin without it made the least movement. In the face of girl you could see her disappointment.

"Don't give up, Sarah."

"I can't even move the tip of the corner," she said in a voice almost defeated.

"You did it before with Juun. Remember what you felt then, what led you to act that way."

"She was going to attack you ... I wanted to stop it."

"Very well. If you can't control your power today Juun and her servants will feed not only on me but also on the other prisoners again. Do you want this?" the Doctor asked seriously.

"I don't," she replied.

"So, what do you want?"

"I want to help you."

"Say it again," the gallifreyan urged.

"I want to help you, I want to help you, I want to help you, I want to help you!"

The napkin began to rise into the air slowly, to the delight of the young journalist.

"Look, Doctor, I've made it!" she exclaimed happy.

"Good girl," said the Doctor, smiling.

But before the eyes of the travellers the napkin began to tear and fell in two halves.

"Why?" the girl asked, again saddened by the failure.

"Your focus is not complete. But this is fine if you want to have two Lady Juun," the Doctor said looking at the two halves of the napkin.

"I don't want to do that!" she said horrified at the idea.

"I know, I know. Just kidding. Try again," the voice of the Time Lord was gentle.

Sarah levitated again one of the halves and held it a few seconds in the air. Seeing that nothing happened she slightly moved her arm to make the napkin also moved from side to side. Everything seemed to go well until it came to tear.

"Every time you glad for an achieving you break the concentration and fail," the gallifreyan observed. "Stay focused all the time; don't think if you're doing it right or wrong."

Sarah nodded and repeated the same with the other half of the napkin. She got the piece of fabric made a tour of the cell and come back on the tray.

"Wonderful, Sarah," the Doctor said.

She smiled and then focused on the crystal glass. She had managed to dominate the levitation of the fabric and now she wanted to try something a little harder. With a little more effort on her part, the glass began to float slightly above the tray.

"You're doing fine. Concentration is the key," he whispered.

"Shhhh."

"Sorry."

She lifted up her arm gently so that the glass raised more and made light moves from one side to another to move it. It seemed that she was achieving satisfactory results when the glass blew up into small fragments.

"Look out! This is dangerous," exclaimed the Doctor, who dodged the sharp crystals for very little.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Sarah apologized worried about her partner.

"I am. Keep trying."

"Are you sure? Next time maybe I end up hurting you."

"Sarah, if you don't get it there won't be next time," the Doctor reminded her.

The young journalist moved her arms in the air to collect the fragments of glass and put them in a corner of the cell. Then she focused on the plate and tried to do it dance in the air before the fearful look of the Time Lord, who expected a new explosion of ceramics. The plate didn't explode. Sarah deposited it gently on the tray. She smirked and decided to try the hardest yet: the water pitcher. If the girl noticed the Doctor's look of fear, she ignored it. She had to do it for him, for the prisoners and for herself. She focused on her desire to help and began to lift the pitcher first weak and shaky, then with gentle but determined movements. She moved it around the cell. At that moment there were only the pitcher and her. She was not aware of anything around her. She was not aware of the movements of the Doctor to move away from the route of the pitcher. The glass container returned to its place, intact.

"I think I've got it, Doctor. Look", the girl said jolly, extending her hand to the Time Lord, who was kneeling in front of her.

"Sarah, my dear, what are you going to do? You're pointing at me," he asked nervously.

"Do you trust me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I do."

"Then let me do."

Sarah made a quick movement of her arm from bottom to top, unbuttoning the Doctor's shirt. The gallifreyan felt his shirt and torso.

"I am unharmed ... and the shirt is intact ... You got it, Sarah! You've controlled your energy perfectly."

She winked at him panting, clearly exhausted by the spending of energy than those exercises had caused her. Thaddeus laughed mockingly.

"What happens?" the Doctor asked.

"You're so cute, girl. But do you really think this will be enough to defeat Lady Juun?" the man said without abandoning his mocking tone.

"He's right, Doctor. Lady Juun is very powerful," Sarah said, back to reality.

"But you have something she hasn't," he said smiling.

"What?" she asked intrigued. The Doctor approached her.

"A Time Lord who fully trusts you," he replied, bringing his lips to hers and kissing her passionately.

She kissed him back, but she suddenly stopped.

"Eh! Is this another of your tricks to make me feed?" she asked.

"Shut up and eat."


	13. Chapter 13

Hearing the knock at the door Doctor Bosch left his job and went to see who it was. Upon opening, he saw a young woman with dark hair gathered back in a braid and light eyes, but what caught his attention was her bulging belly, evidencing the girl was pregnant.

"If you're here for the autopsy of Mrs. Smet, it's not finished yet," the Medical Examiner said.

"I'm not here for that, sir. I just want to ask you a question, and I sincerely hope the answer is no," the girl said.

"Tell me, Mrs ..."

"Rur. My name is Iness Rur. I'd like to know if you have received the body of my husband, Michael Rur," she said shakily.

"I have no one by that name here," said Bosch.

Iness was relieved.

"Thank goodness. Don't be offended, but this is the last place I'd like to find him."

"I'm not offended. Your husband is gone?"

"Yes. This morning he had an appointment with Lady Juun. It's getting dark and he still hasn't returned. It's no normal that he delays so much, especially since we expect a child," she said with her hand on her belly. "As it's perhaps too early to make a complaint to the police I have gone to ask at the hospitals in case he has had an accident, but I haven't had luck with my search ..."

"Have you said he went to the house of Lady Juun?" Bosch asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Mrs. Rur, I think you should go immediately to the police."

* * *

The Doctor was resting lying on the cold cell floor, regaining his strength after giving energy to Sarah. He briefly opened his eyes and saw his partner sitting, staring sombrely the door.

"What happens, Sarah?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled slightly.

"I'm just worried. It's nothing, back to sleep."

The gallifreyan held out his hand and Sarah took it in hers.

"Everything will be all right, my dear. Don't worry."

"If we don't go out of here tomorrow, we won't have more opportunities to do so," she reminded him.

"All the more reason for not to worry."

"Why?"

"If tomorrow we get out it means that we have defeated Isbor, so there will be no cause for concern. If we fail ... well, everything will be over and then we won't have worries anymore," he said carefree.

"Oh, Doctor. You have a very strange way to give encouragement," she reproached him, unable to find the comment funny.

"You just have to think positively and everything will be fine."

"Okay, I'll heed you. Keep resting now," she said, though the Doctor's words hadn't comforted her at all.

"Rest you too."


	14. Chapter 14

What Lady Juun saw in the cell stunned her: the Doctor was on the floor, unconscious with pale skin and fang marks on his neck, and Sarah Jane was standing beside him, looking at him with sad expression as she cleaned the blood from her mouth.

"What have you done, girl?" she managed to ask.

"I've done it for him. He doesn't want to feed anyone but me. Quiet, he's not dead, I could not do it even if he begs me," Sarah said still looking at her partner.

"And he has asked you to give a binge eating?" she asked again, still not believing what she was seeing.

"The last meal of a condemned is usually sumptuous," the journalist replied with a bitter smile.

"The girl tells the truth, my lady," Thaddeus said, witness of what happened. "They've been arguing for a while before she bit him reluctantly."

"And what will you do? To wait for him to wake up and leave him dry again?"

"If I do that he could die, and I said I'd never do that. No, Juun, what I'm going to do is challenge you to a duel," Sarah said, fixing in her interlocutor a determined look.

Lady Juun and Thaddeus were amazed, and then the lady started laughing.

"Do you intend to fight me?" she asked, this time with amusement.

"A demonstration of our energies; the first to fall exhausted, loses."

"What are your conditions?" Sarah had managed to intrigue the mistress of the house.

"If you win, I'll submit to Isbor and the Doctor will feed only you. If I win, you will free the Doctor, me and the rest of prisoners."

Juun laughed again.

"My dear, you'll die within a matter of hours."

"But I'll die as a free woman."

"Stupid dreamer. All right, I accept the challenge. Thaddeus, take her with Isbor."

"Where are you going?" Sarah asked to see the lady was heading to the stairs.

"I still haven't eaten while you've eaten more than you needed. It's clear who plays with advantage."

The journalist looked with anger and helplessness. Unwittingly she had caused another death.

"The last ... this will be the last ..." She knelt beside the Doctor and, buttoning his shirt, she placed a kiss on his lips. "See you soon, my love ... or so I hope."

"Move," Thaddeus said with his usual dry tone.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I have the right to say goodbye to my beloved. After all, I may not see him again."

* * *

**Four hours before.**

Sarah had satisfied her hunger and the Doctor lay down to recover. He closed his eyes under the watchful eyes of the girl. Almost immediately she noticed that the Time Lord was communicating with her mentally.

_"Sarah, listen well to what I'm going to tell you and, above all, don't show any emotion at my words."_

_"Tell me,"_ said the young journalist, taking the Gallifreyan's hand and caressing his dense brown curls, hiding Thaddeus that she and the Doctor were talking.

_"I want you to face Lady Juun in a demonstration of your power,"_ he said with a serious tone.

_"WHAT!?"_ She exclaimed, suddenly pale and fearing have screamed aloud. Fortunately she didn't.

_"Not so loud, I can hear you perfectly,"_ the Doctor said.

_"Do you realize what you just ask me for? What do you want to get with this?"_ the girl asked nervously.

_"I want to gain time, to entertain Juun and her employees enough time for me to release the prisoners."_

_"She'll kill me,"_ she said. The Doctor could feel the fear in her voice.

_"Sarah, my dear, I wouldn't ask you to do this if I were not sure you can do it. Trust yourself as I do. You've been training hard, you can get it."_ His voice was sincere, trying to convey to Sarah the trust she had suddenly lost.

_"Juun has much more experience in this than me, have you forgotten?"_

_"Do you want to die without a fight first?"_

_"No, of course not!"_

_"Good girl. When I get my strength back this is what we'll do."_

The Time Lord explained to his partner the small theatrical representation that they would do so that all the attention of the inhabitants of the house falls exclusively on Sarah.

_"Is this all? Is there anything else that you want to say me?"_

_"Just remember two important things you must do. The first one: win enough time. I will come to your aid as soon as possible."_

_"And the second?"_

_"Stay alive."_

Sarah bent down and kissed the Doctor's mouth. All that Thaddeus had seen was the young girl concerned about her partner, what she used to do all the time.


End file.
